"I can see you just fine," he said. "But I can never thank you enough."
"You brought me here, sir," I said. "The rebellion from three weeks ago--"
"I didn't intend to do it. I've worked here for more than a year under that threat from the governor. I hated working this ship, being a part of carrying my own people over to Dulan each week. But I would not rebel, and risk them coming after any River People. I knew the governor would probably avoid any confrontation with our people for as long as she could, so if I obeyed, you'd be fine. Then a few weeks ago, one of the Colonists smuggled a weapon on board the ship, a knife not too different from the one in your hand, Ani. She dropped it and was about to be caught. I knew what Dulan would do to her for having a weapon, so I grabbed it and said it was mine." He shrugged. "Last week, they told me they had taken two children from the river country, as punishment for what I'd done, though I had no idea it was either of you. You were to be tests for how other River People would do once they were taken."
Weevil chuckled. "I guess they got their answer!"
"They did, son."
Weevil nearly melted into his father's words, to have someone once again calling him "son."
"We need to get those chains off you," I said.
"I could pick the lock." Weevil glanced my way. "If I had unbroken needles."
"Snakes," I muttered back at him. "Big, nasty snakes."
His father nodded and got to his feet. "I know where the keys are kept. I'll help everyone out of their chains, and then we'll crew this ship to wherever you command." He tilted his head toward me. "Since you rescued us, I assume you're the one in charge."
I stepped back. "No, I only--"
"What do you want from us?" Clement asked. "We'll follow you anywhere, Ani."
Weevil was staring at me, as happy as I ever remember seeing him. So was his father, and the other crew members who had been prisoners here for at least as long. All wore smiles as wide as their whole faces. Everyone, I realized, was staring at me, ready for orders.
A small platform stood a few steps behind me. Carefully avoiding the hole Weevil had blown into the deck, I climbed up and looked over the group.
"Well?" Marjorie asked. "Are we going home?"
I took a deep breath. "Yes and no. For now, most of you will not be accepted at home. Much as your families miss you, they also believe you are victims of a disease that might spread to them. They will stand as far from you as possible, calling out their love but begging you to return to the Colony where you can die in peace. Even if you convince them you are no longer sick, a part of them will always doubt. So we are returning to Keldan, but not to go home. Before we go home, we must destroy the Scourge."
"You heard the lady," Weevil's father shouted to the other crew members. "Let's hoist sails and take this ship to Keldan. Where do we dock, Ani?"
"Near the town of Windywood," I said.
"That's close to river country," Weevil warned.
"It's also where Governor Felling intends to make a speech tonight." I smiled over at my friend. "We should be there to hear it."
The freed crew members took over the work of sailing us toward Keldan, allowing the Colonists to rest and to eat as much as we wanted from the goods Jonas and Della had found. I didn't see Weevil for most of the ride. He was spending time with his father, as he should have. Instead, I wandered amongst the Colonists, getting to know each of them a little and assuring them I had a plan that would help them go home again.
"You won't share the plan with us?" Marjorie asked.
I shook my head. "Not yet." Mostly because what I had wasn't so much a plan as it was a determination to
win--or die trying. Not the sort of thought I was ready to share with people who had spent far too long contemplating their likely deaths.
The crew suggested we dock off shore and a ways farther from the town. "Bringing a ship home with Dulan's flag will raise a lot of concern," one man said. "It's better if no one sees us."
"Then lower the flag and take us as close to shore as you can," I said. "We'll use the dinghy at the side of the ship and only bring a few people with us."
"The governor will have many wardens there to protect her as she speaks," Brogg said. "To fight them off, you'll need all of us."
"We're not fighting the wardens," I said. "There are other ways to win than fighting."
I wished Weevil could have heard me say that. He would've thought I'd matured.
The dinghy would only fit six of us. I asked Weevil to come with me, and his father. Jonas would also come, and Clement.